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Its hard to find a wise man

Today we put up the Nativity scene at the Church. Kyle, Parker, John and Josh did a nice job this year setting it up.Once the Nativity was set up we noticed a Wise man was missing. We have not seen him since last year, so we had to go on a search for a wise man. Immediately thoughts went to where to find a wise man. They of course turned to the Scoutmaster.Nope, he was not the wise man they sought, Assistant Scoutmasters on the scene couldn’t help either.Where to find a wise man?

Well he finally was found, right were we put him. And after some repairs to a broken hand and a paint touch up. The wise man joined his two companions on the journey to the Christ child.

We find wise men in our daily lives. The search for our wise man, while funny, took us to the back of our church where he is currently standing.A Scout is Reverent. Reverence to our God and the things he created.It is Christmas time. A time of rebirth in many ways, a time to start over, a time to reflect on the past and look to the future. A time when we take stock in our lives and see what we can do to emulate our Saviour.God gave Jesus to us as a gift. A gift that ultimately took away the sins of the world. A gift that keeps on giving.

So for just a minute, forget about the malls, the parties, and the over commitment of shopping and dressing up in fancy clothes. Think about why we celebrate Christmas. Give thanks for the birth of Jesus Christ.Weather you are a believer or not, Jesus Christ, the man, changed our world. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, changed everything! A part of the continued gift.

Merry Christmas and Happy Scouting!

The Christmas Truce of 1914 (THEY BECAME WISE MEN)

On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. Though Germany readily agreed, the other powers refused.Even without a cessation of war for Christmas, family and friends of the soldiers wanted to make their loved ones’ Christmas special. They sent packages filled with letters, warm clothing, food, cigarettes, and medications. Yet what especially made Christmas at the front seem like Christmas were the troves of small Christmas trees.

On Christmas Eve, many German soldiers put up their Christmas trees, decorated with candles, on the parapets of their trenches. Hundreds of Christmas trees lighted the German trenches. The British soldiers could see the lights but it took them a few minutes to figure out what they were from. British lookouts reported the anomalies to their superiors. Could this be a trick? British soldiers were ordered not to fire but to watch them closely. Instead of trickery, the British soldiers heard many of the Germans celebrating.

Time and again during the course of that day, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, ‘A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!’ Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, ‘Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o’er eat yourself wi’ they sausages!

In other areas, the two sides exchanged Christmas carols.“They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate in some way, so we sang ‘The first Noël’, and when we finished that they all began clapping; and then they struck up another favourite of theirs, ‘O Tannenbaum’. And so it went on. First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words ‘Adeste Fidéles’. And I thought, well, this was really a most extraordinary thing – two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war”

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"There are little things in life that helps to ‘center us’, and one of those was your blog. I am feeling more fulfilled now! Glad you are back" - Nate
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Jerry, you’re an excellent communicator, you have a very experienced and level headed view of Scouting and you definitely are a great example of a servant leader. Seriously, I think you should be working for BSA National - Trent